a day of much doing

What a day! What we have accomplished today... ugh! A list: bought a vacuum (actually, we were given a vacuum - thanks Bob and Marg!), connected and leveled appliances, picked up a Uhaul, moved out of storage and into a Uhaul, moved out of a Uhaul and into our new apartment, unpacked, organized and set up our stuff, went to the Brick to get a cleaning appointment (for the stained sofa, mrrrrrr...), hit up Costco - bought salad and take-and-bake pizza, made dinner (used our new stove for the first time!), bought soap and dish cloths, cleaned, vacuumed... and... more? It was a LOT! And our new place is starting to look like a home-to-be. It is QUITE unfortunate that we only get to really live in it for three days (or two?) before we head to Toronto before we fly away to Japan. Some pics:

The men in the TRUCK

a packed storage unit!!

on our last elevator ride!

action shot...

the most relaxing three seconds of my day...

On another note, the organization and honesty of the team in Japan is going to be above and beyond our best European experience (which, by the way, is Arona Tenerife Sur) - get this: Steve got an email this morning informing him that the bed they have for him/us is so special (2150mm by 1500mm - they gave him the measurements in millimetres - !) that we have to bring our own sheets. They don't sell sheets that big in Japan. It turns out to be an odd size (as wide as a queen, and as long as a California king - strange), but that just got all of us wondering - where did they get the bed? Much more on Japan to come, but for now... it's sleep-time. We're making our way to Ikea tomorrow, and it will surely be another very long day. Good night!

ughhhhh

Ugh - buying a home/apt/property is frustrating! We're jumping and crawling through hoops (and have been all week) to get things set up and organized and somewhat-sort-of done and ready for a move-in. We're none too sure if this will happen as scheduled (that would be tomorrow), and are just trying to keep stress levels low... and are, so far, not so successful on that front. Other news? In one week - we'll be in Tokyo! From one place to another, here we go again. We're both feeling that there will be some relief - a chance to breathe and know that everything has been taken care of (right?) - once we get on the plane. Toronto-Tokyo is a 14 hour flight, and at just over 10,000 kms (as the crow, or as the AC jetliner flies), it's roughly the same number of kilometres that I drove this summer... yikes. Other news, other things... I am fully and completely out of the loop as far as movies go (as per usual), but there is one that I am looking forward to hearing about, and to seeing: Where the Wild Things are. Will it disappoint? We saw a preview the other day and the costumes looked amazing - check out the trailer if you haven't seen it already. Spike Jonze and some of his buds have set up a photoshop contest at their website We Love You So - "Where the Wild Things Ought To Be", and there are some creative entries, such as the one below. How I love children's books! I gave in to temptation the other day and both The 20th Century Children's Book Treasury, and I love it; Amelia Bedelia, Good Night Moon, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, Madeline, Frog and Toad, Miss Nelson (is Missing!!), and, of course, Where the Wild Things Are.

a great summer!

And so it seems... summer is over. The weather here has been beautiful and warm during the day, but the temperatures are laced with that autumn chill that gets heavier and colder at night (brrrr). We made it out to Gatineau Park yesterday, and it was beautiful. We forgot the camera (oops), but the colours and views were spectacular! We did a short walk up and around King Mountain (or King Hill?), which afforded some amazing views into the Ottawa Valley - and then made for Meech Lake, where Steve looked for lunkers and I read my book. The park and the proximity of lake and woods and nature is one of the things that I'm loving about living in Gatineau. I went for a run yesterday morning on one of the many bike/pedestrian trails, and after about 20 minutes was in a shady forest - no more city! How great is that? I'm excited to learn about all of the trails and paths, to get to know the park a little bit - and the city. Next summer... we are a tight time leash here, and our departure for Japan is coming up quickly. Anyways, so I thought I'd do a recap of the summer, and list some of the highlights... here goes...

1. The wedding! Marrying Steve was the best part of the summer - and a close runner-up was the entire event; having everyone there, all of our friends and family (and for multiple days!) was really the best. We are so lucky to have such great people in our lives! (cheeeeeeeeeese!)

2. New York and Boston with Jen - we had the best time! road tripping and tourist-ing, exploring new cities and meeting people... it was all so so soooo fun. Yay.

3. Traveling - okay, maybe the traveling part wasn't the highlight, but the traveling to and with people was: seeing Claire and Chris and Kim and Jesse in Calgary, Bill and Barb in Seattle, hanging with Jo and Barb and Sharms and Griff (long live Grosbergen!) in Kelowna, and Dan and Milka in Toronto, seeing Joyce and Zella and Duncan in Ottawa, Helen in Gananoque and Hugh and Michelle in B-ville, seeing and spending time with my parents and sisters in the West and with Steve's family in the East...

4. Complete relaxation in Lake Louise - our honeymoon! It was amazing... luxe room, luxe service and two full do-nothing days with my hubs... perfection!

There are more, but the main ones are here - the people, the time, the trips... what an incredible summer!!!

a few comments...

What is Christmas stuff doing up in the middle of September? If I'm still wearing flip flops, it's definitely too early for Christmas commercialism - is it out earlier this year? Maybe a September release is the current norm, and we've just always been on another continent by now. Not knowing... and not liking.


We are Ontarians again! Steve grew up in Bowmanville, I was born in London, and, apparently, our car lived here once too. The Manitoba plates are gone, we have Ontario health cards and I'm a new permanent resident with my new family on Maple Grove Road. I was subjected to a short interview when I crossed GO in Ontario, and passed: What is the only sport that matters? Hockey. What's the only team that matters? The Leafs. Where is the closest Starbucks? Tim Horton's. There was more, but you catch my drift.


Summer is over. It was down to 9 degrees last night, and it was CHILLS out this morning. I'm okay with the fact that fall is on its way - the leaves are already changing, and I love the medley of colours. (I also love that we won't have to rake anything.) Who knows what our place is going to be like in Tokyo... I mean, besides the street view (which you can see if you zoom in on the map that I posted the other day, I think), we're none too sure about what is going to be inside, and whether or not any of it will fit.

And, last thing: we're going to the Kings of Leon concert tonight in Ottawa! Yessss!

TIFFing in Toronto

We had a great weekend in Toronto, and felt like semi-famous people at the ET Canada rooftop party in Yorkville, all dressed up on the red carpet. TIFF was in full swing, and there were a few big-shot stars, some know-you-by-face-but-not-by-name celebs and lots (mobs) of star-hungry commoners with eyes a'bulge, on the prowl for celebrities. The parties were fun (and so well put together - Dan and Milka's doing) - Saturday night the fete was thrown in honour of Woody Harrelson's new movie, Defendor, so he made an appearance (our biggest star sighting), and Sunday night's slightly more mellow party was for Julianne Moore's new flick, Chloe. We had a chance to do some shopping, went out for breakfast (YUM), met up with Coops for coffee and ... hmm... there must be more. We've got lots going on this week - changing driver's licenses, health care, insurance, and all that fun stuff, getting things arranged/ordered/done for the new apartment, and figuring out particulars for Japan. And, on that note... I'd better go and get some of these to-dos DONE!

We're getting sick of living out of bags - besides our one month stint in Winnipeg in May/June, we've been doing this all summer...

TIFF! Crowds waiting outside the Yorkville Hotel to spot a celeb... it was a bit out of control!

At the ET Canada lounge - there was great deco, all white and shimmery...

Spot the celeb - Woody!

Again, on the red carpet!

Dan-o and Steve

Where the stars got their pics snapped upon arrival at the par-tay...

Dan and Milka hooked us up with a party gift bag - checking out the swag! There were so many good products!

Coops and Brinks - as awesome as they are tall!

An afternoon breakfast after a late night on Sunday at Fran's

and Quebec!

Sooo since we arrived last weekend, we've checked out a small handful of places (maybe 6 or 7?), and ... have had success! Today we signed papers and bought a new condo! Super exciting! It's really central in Gatineau - right across the street from a big green space home to several soccer fields, with two grocery stores within walking distance and a bike path framing a small collection of condos and apartment buildings. We went in this afternoon to take some measurements and, since the MLS listing doesn't really have any pics, took a short video...



Other big news? We're going to Japan! Steve got a contract playing in Tokyo for F.C. Tokyo, a soccer club with an up and coming volleyball team. So that is going to be a bit wild - we're right in Tokyo, and will be living in the Meguro Ward of the city come October. So we're on a bit of a timeline here, but the condo we bought was the model or show home for the development, so we can get in as fast as legal and other such things can get done. And so, like that! We have a new address in Canada and a new address overseas, one that we already know! EEP! And here it is, if you want to check out where we'll be living in Japan's capital - home to 12 million plus. I imagine that there will be no shortage of bloggable goods! We're off to Bowmanville and Toronto tomorrow for a few days; we'll spend the weekend in the city checking out a few film festival events (Steve's best man Dan (#2) is in charge of a few of the biggest social-night-life fêtes of the event), hanging out with the fam in B-ville and then getting a few to-dos crossed off our list early on next week. It should be good - the whirlwind continues!


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in Ontario!

SOLD!
moving men and the tetris-ed van

an empty house

What a weekend. We left Thursday afternoon, and made it to very full Thunder Bay after hmmm, eight hours or so - we were denied at three (or four?) hotels before landing a free upgrade deluxe king-size-bed-room at Travelodge. Friday we made it to Sault St Marie where we had some seriously average Italian food (did you know that The Sault has the most Italian restaurants, per capita, in Canada?), and Saturday we finished the slow-go uhaul to Ottawa... ugh.


The only moose we saw en route was this one

This was not the only bear we came across en route - not far from Thunder Bay we saw a mid-sized black bear pause... and then cross the highway - safely.

We weren't sick of each other but we sure were sick of driving. Steve somehow managed to fit the beast of a vehicle into my aunt Zella's driveway, and after a nice chat with first cousin once removed (or something like that) Val, passed OUT. (Val just got back from a kayaking trip in Greenland, and her pics were amazing... amazing!) Sunday morning we were back in the van, but only for the short trip to a Uhaul storage facility and again, four hours later, to a Uhaul parking lot to drop the thing off. Thankfully we had help unloading and hauling and packing the stuff, and Steve and I along with Fred and Shanti, got the business done pretty quickly. The most disappointing part of that day? Unloading our couch and finding a huge unknown stain on one of the sewn-in-sewn-on cushions... sooooo annoying. Anyways, we stuffed all the stuff into a small-ish storage unit and after a quick stop at Freddie's to drop off patio furniture and a bbq, left the Uhaul, left the key and left the moving weekend behind us. We were tired and frustrated... but glad that we had it all wrapped up and finished. It was back to Zella's for a cold beer, a shower, a lovely dinner, a yummmy bottle of wine and some great company... best part of the day for sure.

Zella making bruschetta in Grandma's apron - so good, so sweet!

Steve enjoying a cold one after a(nother) long day!

Soooo that was yesterday, Sunday. Today we were up and meeting with a realtor by 9:30, at a Second Cup in the Glebe; on our to-do list was to figure where we want to live - Ottawa or Gatineau, what neighborhood, and what our options are/were. And, based on our criteria, we came to a conclusion - for now, because we need to be close to the gym (after all, we did move here because of volleyball), Gatineau is our best bet. It's cheaper, easier and we're not planning on being here forever (and by here I mean Gatineau). So, that was gooooood - a good decision made. We made an appointment with a different realtor for tomorrow, for this side (Gat) of the water... and that was all of the business we could really do for the day. We drove around a bit - Steve showed me the new, half-built complex where the team will be training, and we checked out a few neighborhoods. From there we made our way back into Ottawa to take a look at what used to be my Grandpa and Grandma's house - the house my Pops grew up in. Sadly, the house at 41 Bedford was demolished and has been replaced with a huge megalith of a thing - a definite (ugly) neighborhood anomaly. We visited with Joyce (neighbor), and her son and his partner, and, over coffee talked about this that and the other. It was great to see Joyce - she's known me since I was a wee little bean, and over the years we've had some great visits. So that was a highlight of my day, as was our trip TO THE SPA this afternoon!!! We went to the Nordik Spa in Chelsea and it was amazing. It was so relaxing and so calming and so what we needed after (at least) five consecutive days of moving and packing and moving. And voila, that's it. And, now it's bedtime.

Me and Joyce!

leaving lakeside drive

And so! Today is moving day. We managed to get everything into the 17-foot Uhaul yesterday (Tetris), and thanks to some help from our friend Pascal, it wasn't too painful. The new people take possession at noon, and we're planning to be out and on our way to appointments before then. They seem like nice people - they came over to get their mail two days ago (we thought it was an excuse to come and ask if they could move in early - because they did ask if they could move some stuff in before 12:00), and we had a nice chat. Neither of us really feel sad about leaving the house or the city. As far as the house goes, we both got a little emotional when we decided to sell it, but the only emotion I feel about the place now is happiness, and maybe some pride; we made some great changes here. The city I am ready to leave. I don't want to be mean to Winnipeg but I'm super over the bugs (they are HORRIBLE right now - horrible), the constant construction and drivers that never learned to merge. There are good things and bad things about any and every place (no?), and there were/are good things. It's affordable, the people are nice, there's a great music scene, it's home to our favourite sushi restaurant, Yujiro (on Grant), and we've had a lot of memories here. We met here, and lost a lot of sweat here too - Team Canada Men's Volleyball was here for 10 years (I think), and Team Canada Women still train at IGAC at the U of M. There's a lot more to say, but, in a nutshell, that's about it. I'm excited to move to Ottawa/Gatineau! September will be a busy month with a move (another cross country drive - ugh) and a search for a new place. Plus, we have to make all sorts of arrangements in preparation for the next season of volleyball... busy busy. And so... we're off in the Uhaul this afternoon, Ontario bound!